Business Wave July 2017

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NICE INCONTACT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE TRANSFORMATION BENCHMARK STUDY Business Wave July 2017

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

3

What emotions do businesses think their customers have, and what attitudes do they think customers hold about service experiences? 23

5

What channels do businesses prefer to communicate through, and how well do channels handle problem resolution? 26

Executive Overview

Background, Objectives, & Methodology

What channels do businesses use to communicate with their customers?

8

How satisfied do businesses think their customers are with their service experiences across various channels and industries? 12 How does the service experience impact Key Metrics? 2

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

19

Where do businesses plan to invest in order to improve service experiences?

Firmographics

30

34

Executive Summary Today’s contact centers support an average of 9 channels* and consumers have come to expect the ability to communicate with companies any time, any where and with any device. This is the first and only research study that compares how businesses say they are doing versus how consumers rate their actual experiences—in specific communication channels.

Businesses report an overall success rate of 63% for customer satisfaction in Agent-Assisted channels including inbound/outbound calls with customer service representatives, online chat/video, SMS Text, and social media. Whereas consumers give those same channels only 45% success rating—a gap of 18 points.

The Business Wave of the 2017 inContact Customer Experience Transformation Benchmark Study, reveals that businesses think they are doing a much better job at providing quality customer service than what consumers say they are getting. This is consistent across all channels measured across both Agent-Assisted and Self-Service channels. The success rating for Agent-Assisted channels is much higher according to both business and consumers than Self-Service.

For Self-Service channels, businesses report an overall success rate of 52% for customer satisfaction, yet consumers give only 39% success rating—a gap of 13 points. SelfService channels included website, mobile app, automated phone menu, and virtual assistants (i.e. chatbots).

This report presents the results of the Business Wave and includes side by side comparisons of Business findings with corresponding results from the Consumer Wave conducted earlier in 2017. inContact surveyed 300 contact center decision makers and more than 700 consumers who had experienced a customer service interaction in the past three months.

3

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Across channels, consumers rated customer service 17% lower, on average, than businesses rated their own success with customer experience. Less than half of consumers are satisfied with their experience, regardless of channel whereas more than half of businesses say they are doing well.

Major Findings Businesses offer customers multiple communication channels, despite low customer adoption of many channels The majority of businesses communicate to their customers with phone, email, and IVR

o −

Businesses have the highest resolution success rates with phone, echoed in high customer satisfaction

Responding quickly and providing complete information is important to both customers and businesses o

Providing complete information is important to business success and customer satisfaction, regardless of channel

o

Being quick is also important to both businesses and customers, especially for Self-Service channels −

A significant number of businesses offer the less common methods (online chat/video, SMS Text, social media), even though most customers still heavily rely on inbound/outbound voice calls

o

−

However, some customers are willing and even prefer to be contacted via email and SMS Text

o

Online chat is less preferred by businesses, however customers who use this channel are very satisfied with it and prefer it over other methods

o

Businesses also have high success rates with email. While customers also have moderate satisfaction with both, there are cases where email brings down the satisfaction significantly – businesses may be unaware of some problems with email IVR is a pain point for both customers and businesses

o

4

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Both also expect companies to direct their customers to the quickest path of resolution Convenience is reported by businesses for customer service success (especially for Agent-Assisted channels), but personalization is more important to customers

o

−

All channels more-or-less are considered convenient by customers, so adding personalization (especially when contacting a rep or through another Agent-Assisted channel) is more important to customers

−

Personalization is less of a priority to businesses, but businesses should focus more strongly on personalization in order to better meet customer expectations

Research Objectives and Comparison of Results Objectives

Comparison of Business versus Consumer Results

•

Measure & track current usage and plans to use service channels (current and emerging, assisted, self-service)

•

•

Compare & contrast business perceptions of “best-in-class” service experiences by current/emerging channels

•

Compare & contrast business perceptions versus consumer experiences/attitudes towards personalized (contextual), proactive, omnichannel service experiences via different channels (assisted and self-service)

This is the second of a two-part study that demonstrates • How businesses utilize channels and how they report the quality of the service they provide across both agent-assisted and self-service channels • How business perceptions compare and contrast to what consumers report their actual experiences across channels

•

This report presents the findings from the Business phase and provides side-by-side charts from the results of the Consumer report published in April 2017.

•

inContact intends to conduct this study annually, and track changes over time.

•

Compare/contrast perception of consumer expectations related to new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, chatbots, Internet of Things, virtual reality

•

Track priorities to adopt technology to improve service experiences based on personalized (contextual), proactive, omnichannel via different channels (assisted and self-service) plus speech/text analytics, next-best action recommendations to agents or analytics driven routing

5

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Methodology Business Wave, Conducted July 2017

Consumer Wave, Conducted March 2017

Methodology: 300 online surveys using a business panel. Data was collected July 18-July 31, 2017.

Methodology: 718 online surveys using a consumer panel. Data was collected from March 113, 2017

Survey Length: Approximately 14 min Qualification Criteria: Contact center decision makers (contact center director/manager/VP, customer experience executive involved in purchase, recommendation of technologies to improve customer experience) across any industry. (Consumers are anyone who had a customer service experience within the past three months either by initiating contact with a company, or being contacted by a company) Business Targeted Quotas: Enterprise – 100+ agent seats in entire organization: 150 Small Business: 25-99 agent seats: 150 Weighting: Business data is not weighted Research conducted by: MaritzCX

Survey Length: Approximately 9 min Qualification Criteria: Consumers who had a customer service experience within the past three months either by initiating contact with a company, or being contacted by a company Targeted Quotas: Surveys were completed across the following Agent-Assisted (AA) and Self-Service (SS) channels, with targets of 100 per group*: Inbound/Outbound voice (AA): 102 Email (AA): 99 Online Chat/Video (AA): 107 Text/Social Media (AA): 102 IVR (SS): 96 Website (SS): 99 Mobile App/Bot/Virtual Assistant (SS): 113 Weighting: Data were weighted so that those entering the survey – prior to screening aligned with US Census proportions for age, gender, race, and ethnicity Research conducted by: MaritzCX

6

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DETAILED FINDINGS

7

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What channels do businesses use to communicate with their customers?

8

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Businesses’ customers interact with them via agents over half of the time, but Self-Service is still used by many (just at a lower frequency) •

40%-90% of the time Agent-Assisted channels are used, whereas Self-Service is used for 20%-50% of the interactions

Business

% Proportion of Customer Service Experiences

60

40

Agent-Assisted Experiences

Self-Service Experiences

CC2. Thinking about all the service experiences customers have with your company, what proportion of those experiences fall into each of two main categories: ‘Agent-Assisted’ and ‘Self-Service?’

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

9

Among the Agent-Assisted channels used, customers speak with a live representative most often Agent-Assisted Channels

Methods of Communication Business

Consumer You called the company and spoke to a live rep

66

You emailed the company

15

You started an online ‘chat’ session with a live representative

10

The company called you

8

Inbound calls, to live representatives in a call center

46

Outbound calls, from live representatives in a call center

You posted a question or comment on social media

2

Social Media (Net Inbound & Outbound)

You texted the company

1 1

81

Customers can have text-only 'chat' session online with a rep

2

You had a video chat with the company

85

Email (Net Inbound & Outbound)

Outbound text messaging to customers

The company texted you

60

(% each method was mentioned)

63 36 52

Inbound text messaging from customers Customers can have a video 'chat' session online with a live representative

31

Consumer Chart Base n=2,608 (Completes + All valid screened respondents who did not complete the survey due to quota met or suspended the survey); Most recent experience Consumer Table Base n=4,781 points of contact (across all 3,771 experiences had by 2,608 respondents). Data is unweighted, but weighted data is all within 0-2 percentage points Total Business Base n=300

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

10

Social Media Inbound 51% Outbound 37%

39

CC1a. In which ‘Agent-Assisted’ ways does your company communicate or interact with customers?

QS4. In which of the following ways did you communicate or interact during this experience? (Respondents were allowed to check multiple methods for up to two experiences.)

Email Inbound 76% Outbound 64%

Consumer Business

Most businesses offer Self-Service options to communicate (especially IVR and their website), despite very few customers using Methods of Communication

Self-Service Channels

(% each method was mentioned)

40

Business

Consumer

You visited the company’s website

13

You called the company and used an automated menu

Customers can visit the company's website

83

4 IVR (Net)

You used the company’s mobile app

78

3 Customers can use company's mobile app

You used an online ‘virtual assistant’

You used a home electronic assistant device

53

IVR Inbound 73% Outbound 50%

1

0.4

Customers can use a 'virtual assistant' (for example, speak or text online with an automated assistant)

44

Consumer Business

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

11

How satisfied do businesses think their customers are with their service experiences across various channels and industries? 12

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Customer Service Channel Performance

Businesses report higher success rates with Agent-Assisted channels overall, (especially with voice and email) along with mobile apps •

Social media, SMS Text, and IVR render the lowest success rates Success with Using each Method of Communication

Business

(% Rating as 9/10)

% 9/10 Agent-Assisted (Overall) Online Chat & Video (Net)

63

% 9/10 Self-Service (Overall)

52

54

Website

56

Text Chat

49

Mobile App/Bot/Virtual Assistant (Net)

61

Video Chat

56

Mobile App

62

64

Virtual Assistant

53

Email (Net) Inbound Email

55

Outbound Email

55

Inbound IVR

50

57

Outbound IVR

54

SMS Text & Social Media (Net) Inbound SMS Text

54

Outbound SMS Text

50

Inbound Social Media

50

Outbound Social Media

48

Inbound & Outbound Voice (Net)

IVR (Net)

55

68

Inbound Voice

64

Outbound Voice

62

QCH1. Now thinking specifically of “Agent Assisted” ways that customers interact with your company (e.g., phone, email, chat, social media), how would you rate your company overall on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? QCH3. For each method below that your customers can interact with the company in an “Agent-Assisted’ fashion, how would you rate your company on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? Please select one per row. QCH2. Now thinking specifically of “Self-Service” ways that customers interact with your company (e.g., website, mobile app, automated phone menu, virtual assistant), how would you rate your company overall on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? QCH4. For each method below that your customers can interact with the company in a ‘Self-Service’ fashion, how would you rate your company on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? Please select one per row.

13

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Customer Service Channel Performance

Businesses rate their success in Agent-Assisted channels higher than customer satisfaction, with the biggest gap in voice, followed by email • Customer satisfaction from email suffers from a high proportion of customers rating low (bringing the average down); not echoed in businesses’ perceptions of success • Businesses have lower success with online chat/video, but this channel leads to the most satisfying experience according to customers

Agent-Assisted Channels

Satisfaction/Success with Using each Method of Communication (% Rating as 9/10)

Consumer

% 9/10

Agent-Assisted (Aggregate)

Email Text & Social Media (Aggregate)

Inbound & Outbound Voice

% 9/10

Agent-Assisted (Overall)

45

Online Chat & Video (Aggregate)

54

43

42

40

QCH1. Thinking about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL), how satisfied were you overall with this method of communication during your experience?

14

Gap

Business

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Online Chat & Video (net)

63

Inbound & Outbound Voice (net)

18

54

0

64

Email (net)

Text & Social Media (net)

(% Rating as 9/10)

21

57

15

68

QCH1. Now thinking specifically of “Agent Assisted” ways that customers interact with your company (e.g., phone, email, chat, social media), how would you rate your company overall on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? QCH3. For each method below that your customers can interact with the company in an “Agent-Assisted’ fashion, how would you rate your company on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? Please select one per row. Consumer Bases: Agent-Assisted (410), Online Chat/Video (107), Text/Social (102), Voice (102), Email (99) Total Business Bases: Agent-Assisted (299), Online Chat/Video (159), Text/Social (240), Voice (205), Email (275)

28

Consumer Business

Customer Service Channel Performance

Businesses perceive that their mobile apps/bot/virtual assistant perform well, but customers disagree – they are more satisfied with websites. IVR also performs much worse with customers versus businesses Self-Service Channels

Satisfaction/Success with Using each Method of Communication (% Rating as 9/10)

Consumer

% 9/10

Self-Service (Aggregate)

Self-Service (Overall)

49

Mobile App/Bot/Virtual Assistant (Aggregate)

IVR

% 9/10

39

Website

38

Website

QCH1. Thinking about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL), how satisfied were you overall with this method of communication during your experience?

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

(% Rating as 9/10)

13

52

56

Mobile App/Bot/Virtual Assistant (net) IVR (net)

28

Gap

Business

7

61

23

27

55

QCH1. Now thinking specifically of “Agent Assisted” ways that customers interact with your company (e.g., phone, email, chat, social media), how would you rate your company overall on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? QCH3. For each method below that your customers can interact with the company in an “Agent-Assisted’ fashion, how would you rate your company on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? Please select one per row. Consumer Bases: Agent-Assisted (410), Online Chat/Video (107), Text/Social (102), Voice (102), Email (99) Total Business Bases: Agent-Assisted (299), Online Chat/Video (159), Text/Social (240), Voice (205), Email (275)

15

Consumer Business

Channel Performance: Explaining Ratings1

Businesses perceive that they are quick, solve problems, and have good customer service (customers agree). Quick/easy process is also top-of-mind for customers. • Similarly, top suggestions for improving service experiences center on quicker response time and faster process, along with better customer service

Consumer Top Suggestions for Improvement

Top Mentions of What is ‘Good’

Top Suggestions for Improvement

• Responded quickly • Answered my question • Received info I needed

15% 10% 9%

• Lower prices/Offer discounts3% • Better outcomes 2% • Faster process 2%

• Easy to use/Convenient • Quick/Fast/Efficient

14% 12%

• More friendly/less rude • More knowledgeable • Better customer service

4% 4% 4%

• Nice/Friendly/Understanding11% • Helpful/Listened/Patient 9% • Knowledgeable 3%

• Solve my problem • Faster resolution

5% 2%

• Solved my problem • Solved quickly • Received a refund

15% 9% 3%

Solution (Net)

• Easier phone options • Less wait/hold time 6% • Prefer live representative

6%

• No wait/hold time • Live person/Easy to reach • Like ability to email/text

4% 3% 2%

Channel (Net)

• Simple to use • Website has clear info

2% 1%

Website/Mobile (Net)

• Respond quicker • Respond back to emails

9% 5%

6%

• Several items each at… 1% Better app, better site, easier to use site, more info, easier login

16

Business

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Communication (Net)

Process (Net)

Customer Service (Net)

• Respond quicker • Answer questions clearly • More communication

4% 3% 3%

Top Mentions of What is ‘Good’ • Responded quickly • Answered my question • Good communication

15% 8% 4%

• Faster process 7% • Better outcomes 3% • Lower prices/Offer discounts 2%

• • • •

5% 3% 2%

• Better customer service • Increase staff • More knowledgeable

8% 7% 5%

• Good customer service • Helpful/Listened/Patient • Knowledgeable

15% 12% 11%

• Faster resolution • Solve my problem

4% 3%

• Solved my problem • Solved quickly

15% 13%

• Don’t like automation • Less wait/hold time • Prefer live representative

4% 4% 3%

• Live person/Easy to reach • Live chat • No wait/hold time

8% 2% 1%

• Website has clear info

1%

• Better System/Website • More info on web • Mobile App work better

4% 2% 2%

Good company/Caring Had no problems/Good Easy to use/Convenient Quick/Fast/Efficient2%

Customer Service Channel Performance2

Businesses believe they are quick and listen well when resolving customer problems, but also reference time, resolution, and availability for improvement areas Business

Resolving Customers’ Questions or Problems What Company Does Well

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What Company Can Improve

17

Channel Performance

Regardless of channel, businesses rate their performance higher than consumers for all elements • Businesses perceive better offerings (security, convenience, resolution, etc.) with their Agent-Assisted channels • Security is highest performing for businesses for both channels, but customers do not see a large differentiation with security compared to other performance elements

Channel Performance (% Rating as Excellent or Very Good)

Agent-Assisted 56%

Offering me personalized service

Self-Service

63%

Being a convenient way to resolve my question or issue

57%

Resolving my question or issue in the quickest way possible

50%

79%

61%

84%

57%

83%

63%

71%

77%

74%

66%

88%

85%

Keeping my personal information secure 56%

Providing me with the most complete information about my question or issue Helping me discover something new or useful for my needs

NA

41%

53%

Being an effective way for a company to proactively recommend something new or special for my needs Consumer Business

61%

81%

77%

QCH3_1. For these next few questions, think about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL). Please rate this method of communication on each of the characteristics below. Total Consumers n=718

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Scale: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor.

75%

74%

NA

CH6.1-13 Thinking only about the ‘Agent-Assisted’/ ‘Self-Service’ service experiences customers have with your company, rate your company on each of the characteristics below. Total Business Agent-Assisted n=300; Self Service n=297

18

How does the service experience impact Key Metrics?

19

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Channel Attitudes3

Customers report higher first-time resolution compared to what businesses report for any channel • Customers report their lowest first-time resolution with mobile apps/bots/virtual assistants and email; their highest first-time resolution with voice • Businesses report their highest first-time resolution with voice, followed by email and social media. All other channels have lower first-time resolution

% Handled First Time

Gap (Consumer to Business)

60%

45%

Agent-Assisted (Aggregate)

15 70%

54%

Inbound/Outbound Voice

16 61%

31%

Text/Social Media

30 58%

36%

Online Chat/Video

22 41%

51%

Email

10 60%

32%

Self-Service (Aggregate)

28 64%

33%

Website

31 30%

49%

Mobile App/Bot/Virtual Assistant

19 32%

65%

IVR

33

Consumer Business

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20

Drivers of Channel Performance See Appendix for Among businesses, being convenient is a top success driver for Agent-Assisted detailed explanation of True Driver channels (along with providing complete information), which is different from Analysis customers who consider quick resolution the top driver

• Personalization is also more important to customers; lower importance to businesses

Agent-Assisted Channels

Drivers of Channel Performance (Consumer) versus Success (B2B) Consumer

Business

Resolving my question or issue in the quickest way possible

“Channel Performance” (for consumers) is a composite measure (straight average of scores) based on Overall Satisfaction with the channel used, Likelihood to recommend and likelihood to continue doing business with the company based on the channel used during the most recent experience.

23

Resolving customers' question or issues in the quickest way possible

Providing me with the most complete information about my question or issue

21

Providing customers with the most complete information about their question or issue

Offering me personalized service

21

Offering personalized service

Being an effective way for a company to proactively recommend something new or special for my needs

15

Being an effective way for a company to proactively recommend something new or special to meet customers' needs

Being a convenient way to resolve my question or issue

15

Being a convenient way to resolve customers' question or issues

Keeping my personal information secure

6

CH3.1-.7 For these next few questions, think about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL). Please rate this method of communication on each of the characteristics below.

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Consumer n = 410 Consumer R2 = 0.686

Keeping customers' personal information secure

14

24

13

21

23

6

CH6.1-6. Thinking only about the ‘Agent-Assisted’ service experiences customers have with your company (e.g., phone, email, text, chat, social media), rate your company on each of the characteristics below. Total Business n = 299 Total Business R2 = 0.48

21

Consumer Business

Drivers of Channel Performance

Top Self-Service channel drivers of success for businesses are similar to top drivers for customers – being quick and providing the most complete information

See Appendix for detailed explanation of True Driver Analysis

• Quick resolution is especially important to customers, placing 1.5 times more importance on quickness compared to complete information (businesses put equal weight on both items) – indicating that businesses may be somewhat underestimating the important of quickness in Self-Service channels • Businesses don’t place as much importance on security compared to customers

Self-Service Channels

Drivers of Channel Performance (Consumer) versus Success (B2B) Consumer

Business

Resolving my question or issue in the quickest way possible

“Channel Performance” (for consumers) is a composite measure (straight average of scores) based on Overall Satisfaction with the channel used, Likelihood to recommend and likelihood to continue doing business with the company based on the channel used during the most recent experience.

30

Providing me with the most complete information about my question or issue

20

Resolving customers' questions or issues in the quickest way possible

25

Providing customers with the most complete information about their question or issue

25

Being a convenient way to resolve my question or issue

15

Being a convenient way to resolve customers' questions or issues

Offering me personalized service

15

Offering personalized service

Helping me discover something new or useful for my needs

10

Helping customers discover something new or useful for their needs

Keeping my personal information secure

10

Keeping customers' personal information secure

CH3.1-.7 For these next few questions, think about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL). Please rate this method of communication on each of the characteristics below.

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

Consumer n = 308 Consumer R2 = 0.621

13

19

17

Consumer Business

2

CH6.8-13. Thinking only about the ‘Self-Service’ service experiences customers have with your company (e.g., website, mobile app, automated phone menu, virtual assistant), rate your company on each of the characteristics below Total Business n = 295 Total Business R2 = 0.48

22

What emotions do businesses think their customers have, and what attitudes do they think customers hold about service experiences? 23

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Emotions Associated with Channel Experiences

Businesses and consumers believe that phone calls with a customer service agent and the website create positive emotions. But businesses may underestimate customers’ positive emotions from mobile apps or virtual assistants. Rank of Emotions Positive to Less Positive (#1 = More Positive on Average)

Rank

Consumer

Agent-Assisted Self-Service

Business

Mobile Apps or Virtual Assistants

#1

#6

Phone calls with live reps

#2

#1

Online chat (either text or video)

#2

#3

Website

#2

#2

Texting/Social media (net)

#5

#4

Email

#6

#5

Automated Phone Calls (IVR)

#7

#7

E1. Thinking about when [INSERT CHANNEL; USE SHORTENED TEXT] in the [INSERT INDUSTRY] industry about your customer service experience… how strongly did you feel each of the emotions below?

E1. When customers communicate with your company they can feel different emotions depending on the method or channel of communication. To what extent do you think each method below creates positive feelings such as trust or joy, or creates negative feelings such as frustration or anger?

Consumer – Mobile App/Virtual Assistant (n=111) Phone Calls (n=104) Online Chat (n=109) Website (n=99) Texting/Social media (n=100) Email (n=102) IVR (n=94) Total Business - Mobile App/Virtual Assistant (n=195) Phone Calls (n=274) Online Chat (n=163) Website (n=248) Texting (n=133) Social media (n=157) Email (n=242) IVR (n=233)

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24

Consumer Business

Channel Attitudes

Businesses and customers agree that the companies should direct customers to the channel that resolves their situation in the quickest way • Businesses believe that customers have higher expectations of businesses than reality. The biggest gap is with customers’ willingness to pay more when a company has a good customer service reputation

Loyalty

Consumer

Business

Channel Attitudes (% Strongly Agree) 37%

If I’ve/customers had a bad customer service experience, I/they am very likely to switch to another company in the future

36%

I/Customers am/are more willing to do business with a company that offers more ways to communicate with them

Consistency Ease of Experience

52%

31%

I/Customers expect companies to know my/their purchase history regardless of method of communication (e.g., phone, chat, email)

45%

28%

21%

41%

38% 51%

I/Customers expect companies to direct me/them to the method of contacting them that resolves my/their situation in the quickest way

29%

I/Customers expect companies to be more proactive by reaching out to provide better service with reminders, service notifications or confirmations Companies make it easy to get my/their customers issues resolved in my/their preferred channels

55%

23%

I/Customers am/are willing to pay more for a product or service that has a good customer service reputation

I/Customers would expect to be able to continue talking with the same representative on the phone as I/they was/were talking with via online chat Most companies provide a consistent customer service experience across the purchase journey (from shopping to shipping to customer service after the sale)

49%

25%

20%

43%

38%

40%

My/Customers’ first instinct is to contact the company for help, rather than try to find an answer or fix a problem myself/themselves

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QCA_01 - 10. For each of the statements below, indicate how strongly you agree or disagree. Base: Consumer (n=718) Total Business (n=300)

25

52%

What channels do businesses prefer to communicate through, and how well do channels handle problem resolution? 26

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Channel Preference

Customers and businesses both prefer interactions with a customer service agent, along with website and email. Customers also prefer online chat much more than businesses prefer to offer it. • Social media and video chat are least preferred by consumers – even less preferred compared to businesses

Channel Preference

Consumer

Business

(% Ranked as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Least Preferred)

(% Ranked as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Least Preferred)

You call the company (live representative)

4

You visit the company's website

1

You email the company

4

You start an online "chat" session

5

You call the company (IVR)

12 4

The company calls you

8

You use a "virtual assistant"

9

You text with the company

8

You have a video chat

22 16

15

17

10

17 9

5

16 15

12

15 12

11

7

7

14

67

3

49

4

11

45

6

6

39

5

5

25

6

6

4

19

4

7

6

13 3

8

9

3 3

10 7

8

3 4

5

9

6

13 3

QCP1. Of the ways in which you can interact with a company during a customer service experience, please rank your top three from the list below. QCP2. Of the ways in which you can interact with a company during a customer service experience, which is your LEAST-preferred method? Base: Consumers, n=718 Ranked #1

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Ranked #2

Ranked #3

6

3

6 6

16

54 34 16 21

4

16 6

20

5

15

5

6

12

36

7

8 3

11

5 10

22 3

8

13

6

4

11

13

6

6

6 11 2

Least Preferred

31

19

4

13

You use a home electronic assistant device Agent-Assisted Self-Service

19

6

You use the company's mobile app

You communicate through social media

37

10 7

14

5

15

2 3 2

7

QCP1. From the list below, please rank the top three ways that your company would prefer to interact with a customer during a service experience. Enter a ‘1’ for your most-preferred method, followed by a ‘2’ and ‘3’ for your next most-preferred methods. QCP2. And from the list below, which is the LEAST-preferred method that your company would prefer to interact with a customer during a service experience? Base: Total Business n=300 *Totals may not match 1st, 2xd, 3rd percentages due to rounding

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Channel Preference: Reason for “Least Preferred”4

Selected reasons for each method being companies’ “least preferred” channel of communication with customers

Agent-Assisted

Inbound Calls, to Live Representative Cost to staff is not balanced by effectiveness It requires paying someone to do the job Highly effective, however it is also the most expensive

Outbound Calls, From Live Representative

Self-Service

Sometimes the issues are too complicated to resolve this way and realize the frustration it causes to customers Not personalized

Inbound Email To Customers

They are inefficient It’s best to cover with regard to time one on one spent customer service with a live person Takes the most time Questions are harder to It is not efficient understand in an and it cost a great email deal especially if you have a very Rarely do large customer customers provide base enough info to solve the issue on first contact

Inbound calls, to an automated phone service (IVR)

Outbound Email to Customers

Online Chat Session

Less personal less emotional. More professional to hear a voice and have a physical person solve problems Hard to explain things in an email, no emotion

Chat can be very inconsistent. It can be very time consuming and has a high drop off rate Resolutions tend to come about when people are speaking with an actual person

Now days very few people check their Cause it confuses email frequently them sometimes

Outbound calls, from an automated phone service (IVR) Least personal feel when interacting with a client, catches them at bad times and annoys This method is too similar to telemarketing It's not efficient. Customers are annoyed by it often times

Visit the Website It takes longer to resolve this way. You usually don't find the answer you're looking for and then the customer has to create a ticket for the support issue Not as interactive has other options

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Inbound Text Messaging From Customers Feel direct contact is better for customer rather than text messages Things get lost, sometimes you just do not see all texts, things are read wrong. Too much back and forth Usually not taken seriously

Outbound Text Messaging From Customers Sometimes we can't notice the text messages when we're busy

There are still many customers that do not use social media

The response time between people is not guaranteed

The social media can provide a needed service, however the Quite impersonal company can not way, frequently not rely of the much feedback truthfulness of the media. It is very impersonal Too public

Use the Mobile App Not up to date w/ current windows Java update, often crashes

Outbound questions or comments via Social Media

Inbound questions or comments via Social Media

There is a certain amount of privacy that the customer sacrifices using social media I don't feel it is as secure Not personal People can express their emotions in a way to hurt us

Use a Virtual Assistant It’s just not accurate enough Customers like dealing with real people

Certain demographics do not use it Not as reliable as the other services Not reliable

Have a Video Chat There can be quite a bit of background noise, people walking, etc. having a bit of anonymity in this type of interaction is a good thing It can some times be awkward or uncomfortable Most people find it difficult to use

Use a Home Electronic Assistant We prefer a more warm and personal touch The information obtained by the home electronic assistant may not be accurate Takes extra time

28

Where do businesses plan to invest in order to improve service experiences?

29

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Technology Improvements

Businesses plan to make a variety of customer service improvements next year – including improving website, customer satisfaction measurement, and upgrading technology Business

% Aware of Changes to Improve the Customer Service Experience Improvement(s)

Total Business (% Aware) 50

Improve the website experience Continuing ‘customer satisfaction’ or ‘customer experience’ measurement programs Upgrading other technology to communicate with customers (e.g., chat, text, email)

38 37

Improving the mobile app experience

37

Upgrading contact center technology

36

Adding staff to customer support positions

35

Implementing new customer service training

35

Implementing new ‘customer satisfaction’ or ‘customer experience’ measurement programs

32

Adding new services to let customers resolve issues on their own

27

Adding new services that allow channels of communication to work together seamlessly

T2.. In the coming year, what changes are you aware of that your company will be making to improve the customer service experience? Please select all that apply.

27

Total Business Base n=300

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30

Technology Improvements

Businesses plan to invest in channels that consumers say they are less satisfied with. •

Consumer satisfaction is highest for SMS Text and Chat where fewer businesses plan to invest

Consider Technology Improvement

Likely to Invest to Improve Experience 59

Company’s website

59

Company’s mobile app

46

Communicating with customers on social media

45

Automated phone services (IVR)

44

Virtual assistant through the website

43

Text messaging with customers Text-only ‘chat’ sessions online with a live representative

40 40 36

-16

43

-10

49

51

Voice call support

Gap

(% Top 2 Box)

(% Top 2 Box)

Email support

Video ‘chat’ sessions online with a live representative

Consumer Satisfaction

-11

40

-2

44 -13

32

-16

28

-11

32

NA* 7

47

18

54

T1. In the coming year, how likely will your company invest efforts and/or money in improving the customer service experience in each of the following channels? Please select one per row. QCH3. For each method below that your customers can interact with the company in an “Agent-Assisted’ fashion, how would you rate your company on successfully resolving the customers’ questions or problems? Please select one per row. QCH1. Thinking about that recent customer service experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry where (CHANNEL), how satisfied were you overall with this method of communication during your experience? Consumer Bases: Email (99) Web (99) Voice (102) Mobile App (75) Social media (34) IVR (96) Virtual Assistant (38) Video chat (5) SMS (68) Online text chat (102)

Consumer Business

Base: Voice call support (n=295) Email support (n=296) Text-only chat (n=292) Video chat (n=290) Text messaging (n=291) Social media (n=291) Automated phone services (n=293) Company’s website (n=295) Company’s mobile app (n=295) Virtual assistant (n=289)

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

*Sample size low, less than 50

31

Technology Improvements

Over half of businesses will need more resources for Agent-Assisted channels in the next year, mostly due to customers increasingly interacting through calls, chat or social media Business

% More likely to happen in the coming year 33

57

% among companies who need more resources

An overall increase in the number of customers interacting with your company through calls, chat, or social media, creating more agent-assisted experiences Customers shifting from self-service experiences (web, mobile app, etc.) to methods where they need an agent

35

6

15

Both equally

10

% among companies who need less resources

Your company will need more resources (people and/or technology) for 'agent-assisted' communication with customers to handle calls, chat, social media Your company will need less resources (people and/or technology) for 'agent-assisted' communication with customers to handle calls, chat, social media Your company will need about the same level of resources for 'agent-assisted' communication with customers

An overall decrease in the number of customers interacting with your company through calls, chat, or social media, creating fewer agent-assisted experiences

2

7

Customers shifting from agent-assisted methods to self-service experiences (web, mobile app, etc.)

Both equally

2

T3.1. In the coming year, which one of the following do you think is more likely to happen? T3.2. You mentioned your company will need more resources (people and/or technology) for agent-assisted communication. Which one of the reasons below is driving that need more so than the other? T3.3. You mentioned your company will need less resources (people and/or technology) for agent-assisted communication. Which one of the reasons below is driving that need more so than the other? Total Business Base: T3.1 (n=300) T3.2 (n=170) T3.3 (n=31) Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.

32

FIRMOGRAPHICS

33

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Business

Firmographics

Firmographics Company Size

Contact Center Size

50-249

50

25-99

250-499 100-249 250+

31

18

500-999 1,000-4,999

19

5,000+

Company Sizes

27

100-249

250+

50-249

47

12

2

250-499

21

20

5

500-999

19

25

25

1,000-4,999

11

26

21

5,000+

3

17

47

18 16

Quotas*

Contact Center Sizes 25-99

22

Enterprise – 100+ agent seats in entire organization

n=150

SMB – 25 to 99 agent seats

n=150

*Even quota targets were set in the attempt to acquire 150 SMB and 150 Enterprise completes. Therefore, it is not fully representative of the market

S3. How many people does your company employ at all locations? Your best estimate is fine. S4. When your call center(s) is/are fully-staffed, how many stations do you have across the company? Again, your best estimate is fine. Total Business Base n=300

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34

Business

Firmographics

Firmographics

Industry

Count

Industry

Count

Other

67

Supermarket/Grocery store

6

Retailer

51

Auto Dealer

5

Software Firm

39

Computer/Tablet maker

5

Health Plan

20

Credit Card Issuer

5

Business Process Outsourcer

19

Wireless Carrier

4

Investment Firm

17

Fast Food Restaurant

3

Banking

14

TV Service

3

Insurance Carrier

11

Airline

2

Utilities

11

Car Rental

2

Internet Service Provider

7

Major Appliance

2

Hotel

6

Parcel Delivery Services

1

S6. And which of the following industries best describes the company you work for? Please select one. Total Business Base n=300

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35

Notes

1. QCH2_1. And what was particularly good about that method of communication that led you to give that rating? Base: Rated Communication method as 9-10, n=307 QCH2_2. And what about that method of communication could be improved so that next time you would be more satisfied? Base: Rated communication method as 1-8. n=411 QCH5_1. And what does your company do particularly well to promptly resolve customers’ questions or problems? Please be as specific as possible. n=300 QCH5_2. And in what ways could your company improve the support to customers? Please be as specific as possible? n=300 As multiple codes can be assigned to a comment, a respondent can appear in multiple individual codes, and in multiple ‘net’ categories, but can only count once within a ‘net’ category 2. QCH5_1. And what does your company do particularly well to promptly resolve customers’ questions or problems? Please be as specific as possible. n=300 QCH5_2. And in what ways could your company improve the support to customers? Please be as specific as possible? n=300 3. QP1. Thinking about your experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry when (CHANNEL), was your question answered or your problem resolved? Base: Total Consumers: n=718 QP2. And which would you say best describes your experience in the (INDUSTRY) industry when (CHANNEL), would you say... Base: Total Consumers:, n=718 QP1. Below are the various ways you said customers interact with your company. For each channel, what percentage of the time is the service experience resolved during the first point of contact? A rough estimate is fine, but you can only enter a whole number from 0 to 100, and not a range. If you are not aware of this information for a certain channel, you can check ‘Don’t Know.’ Base: Total Business: n=300 4. CP3. Why did you select “[INSERT ABBREVIATED WORDING FOR SELECTION IN CP2”]” as your company’s least-preferred method of interacting with a customer? Please be as specific as possible Total Business Base n=300

36

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37

Copyright 2017 NICE inContact. All rights reserved.